Postharvest orange losses and small-scale farmers’ perceptions on the loss causes in the fruit value chain: a case study of Rusitu Valley, Zimbabwe

Surveys were conducted in Rusitu Valley , Chimanimani district of Zimbabwe between 2011 and 2012 to determine orange losses and farmers’ perceptions on the sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) supply value chain. The following data were collected using interviewer-administered Likert type questionnaires and informal interviews: orchard management practices, pest infestation, fruit handling activities, and marketing practices through. The study sample of 240 respondents was derived from two randomly selected villages in each of the four administrative wards with significant sweet orange production. The study revealed that on average a small-scale farmer in Rusitu Valley owns about 4047 m2 (one acre) orchard with an average of 55 orange trees and that a farmer harvested 1 200 kg of oranges per tree which converts to a total of 66 000 kg of orange produce per season. The study revealed that on average a farmer lost 480 kg of oranges per tree which converts to 26 400 kg per farmer or 40% loss per farmer during the season. Based on the total number of orange farmers in Rusitu Valley, the total loss translates to 89,529,600 kg. About 54% of respondents perceived that the major postharvest losses were a result of fruit fly attack while 36% linked these losses to red weaver ants (Oecophylla spp.). Trapping using a mixture of methyl eugenol and malathion during the same season positively identified the African invader fly, Bactrocera invadens. Unavailability of appropriate storage and transport facilities were the contributing factors to major postharvest losses. Citrus production extension package with an emphasis on the control of insect pests and sustainable postharvest management should be developed to improve the capacity of the small-scale farmers in Rusitu Valley. Keywords: Small-scale farmers, postharvest losses, pests and diseases, fruit value chai

The adequacy of policy responses to the treatment needs of South Africans living with HIV (1999-2008): a case study

South Africa has the largest HIV/AIDS epidemic of any country in the world. Case description: National antiretroviral therapy (ART) policy is examined over the period of 1999 to 2008, which coincided with the government of President Thabo Mbeki and his Minister of Health, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. The movement towards a national ART programme in South Africa was an ambitious undertaking, the likes of which had not been contemplated before in public health in Africa. Discussion and evaluation: One million AIDS-ill individuals were targeted to be enrolled in the ART programme by 2007/08. Fewer than 50% of eligible individuals were enrolled. This failure resulted from lack of political commitment and inadequate public health system capacity. The human and economic costs of this failure are large and sobering. Conclusions: The total lost benefits of ART not reaching the people who need it are estimated at 3.8 million life years for the period, 2000 to 2005. The economic cost of those lost life years over this period has been estimated at more than US$15 billion

WHO 2010 Guidelines for Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission in Zimbabwe: Modeling Clinical Outcomes in Infants and Mothers

The Zimbabwean national prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) program provided primarily single-dose nevirapine (sdNVP) from 2002-2009 and is currently replacing sdNVP with more effective antiretroviral (ARV) regimens.Published HIV and PMTCT models, with local trial and programmatic data, were used to simulate a cohort of HIV-infected, pregnant/breastfeeding women in Zimbabwe (mean age 24.0 years, mean CD4 451 cells/µL). We compared five PMTCT regimens at a fixed level of PMTCT medication uptake: 1) no antenatal ARVs (comparator); 2) sdNVP; 3) WHO 2010 guidelines using "Option A" (zidovudine during pregnancy/infant NVP during breastfeeding for women without advanced HIV disease; lifelong 3-drug antiretroviral therapy (ART) for women with advanced disease); 4) WHO "Option B" (ART during pregnancy/breastfeeding without advanced disease; lifelong ART with advanced disease); and 5) "Option B+:" lifelong ART for all pregnant/breastfeeding, HIV-infected women. Pediatric (4-6 week and 18-month infection risk, 2-year survival) and maternal (2- and 5-year survival, life expectancy from delivery) outcomes were projected.Eighteen-month pediatric infection risks ranged from 25.8% (no antenatal ARVs) to 10.9% (Options B/B+). Although maternal short-term outcomes (2- and 5-year survival) varied only slightly by regimen, maternal life expectancy was reduced after receipt of sdNVP (13.8 years) or Option B (13.9 years) compared to no antenatal ARVs (14.0 years), Option A (14.0 years), or Option B+ (14.5 years).Replacement of sdNVP with currently recommended regimens for PMTCT (WHO Options A, B, or B+) is necessary to reduce infant HIV infection risk in Zimbabwe. The planned transition to Option A may also improve both pediatric and maternal outcomes

What Will It Take to Eliminate Pediatric HIV? Reaching WHO Target Rates of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission in Zimbabwe: A Model-Based Analysis

Using a simulation model, Andrea Ciaranello and colleagues find that the latest WHO PMTCT (prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV) guidelines plus better access to PMTCT programs, better retention of women in care, and better adherence to drugs are needed to eliminate pediatric HIV in Zimbabwe

Male circumcision for HIV prevention: current evidence and implementation in sub-Saharan Africa

Heterosexual exposure accounts for most HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa, and this mode, as a proportion of new infections, is escalating globally. The scientific evidence accumulated over more than 20 years shows that among the strategies advocated during this period for HIV prevention, male circumcision is one of, if not, the most efficacious epidemiologically, as well as cost-wise. Despite this, and recommendation of the procedure by global policy makers, national implementation has been slow. Additionally, some are not convinced of the protective effect of male circumcision and there are also reports, unsupported by evidence, that non-sex-related drivers play a major role in HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa. Here, we provide a critical evaluation of the state of the current evidence for male circumcision in reducing HIV infection in light of established transmission drivers, provide an update on programmes now in place in this region, and explain why policies based on established scientific evidence should be prioritized. We conclude that the evidence supports the need to accelerate the implementation of medical male circumcision programmes for HIV prevention in generalized heterosexual epidemics, as well as in countering the growing heterosexual transmission in countries where HIV prevalence is presently low

Civil society leadership in the struggle for AIDS treatment in South Africa and Uganda

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.This thesis is an attempt to theorise and operationalise empirically the notion of ‘civil society leadership’ in Sub-Saharan Africa. ‘AIDS leadership,’ which is associated with the intergovernmental institutions charged with coordinating the global response to HIV/AIDS, is both under-theorised and highly context-specific. In this study I therefore opt for an inclusive framework that draws on a range of approaches, including the literature on ‘leadership’, institutions, social movements and the ‘network’ perspective on civil society mobilisation. This framework is employed in rich and detailed empirical descriptions (‘thick description’) of civil society mobilisation around AIDS, including contentious AIDS activism, in the key case studies of South Africa and Uganda. South Africa and Uganda are widely considered key examples of poor and good leadership (from national political leaders) respectively, while the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) are both seen as highly effective civil society movements. These descriptions emphasise ‘transnational networks of influence’ in which civil society leaders participated (and at times actively constructed) in order to mobilise both symbolic and material resources aimed at exerting influence at the transnational, national and local levels

Integrating the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV into primary healthcare services after AIDS denialism in South Africa: perspectives of experts and health care workers - a qualitative study

Integrating Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) programmes into routine health services under complex socio-political and health system conditions is a priority and a challenge. The successful rollout of PMTCT in sub-Saharan Africa has decreased Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), reduced child mortality and improved maternal health. In South Africa, PMTCT is now integrated into existing primary health care (PHC) services and this experience could serve as a relevant example for integrating other programmes into comprehensive primary care. This study explored the perspectives of both experts or key informants and frontline health workers (FHCWs) in South Africa on PMTCT integration into PHC in the context of post-AIDS denialism using a Complex Adaptive Systems framework. METHODS: A total of 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted; 10 with experts including national and international health systems and HIV/PMTCT policy makers and researchers, and 10 FHCWs including clinic managers, nurses and midwives. All interviews were conducted in person, audio-recorded and transcribed

Temperature-pressure-time combinations for the generation of common bean microstructures with different starch susceptibilities to hydrolysis

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd In common beans, starch is enclosed by natural (micro)structural barriers influencing its behaviour during processing and digestion. Such barriers and their process-induced modifications could modulate nutrient delivery if adequate processing variables could be selected. In this study, the potential of different processing variables for generating common bean microstructures with different susceptibilities to in vitro starch hydrolysis was assessed. A traditional thermal treatment (95 °C, 0.1 MPa) and two alternative treatments including high hydrostatic pressure at room temperature (25 °C, 600 MPa) and at high temperature (95 °C, 600 MPa) were applied to common beans following a kinetic approach. (Micro)structural properties of (mechanically disintegrated) common beans were evaluated at each processing time. Mostly free, non-swollen and birefringent starch granules were obtained after mechanical disintegration of samples subjected to high pressure at room temperature. In mechanically disintegrated samples obtained by processes involving high temperature, either in combination with high pressure or not, there was major presence of cell clusters at early processing times (7–15 min) and individual cells at intermediate and long times (≥ 45 min). Following, specific process-induced common bean microstructures were evaluated in terms of in vitro starch hydrolysis kinetics. Rate constants of all microstructures obtained after high temperature treatments were similar, whereas final values of digested starch and initial reaction rates exhibited differences. The variations observed in the later parameters were correlated with the starch bio-encapsulation degree. Furthermore, in samples with the same starch bio-encapsulation degree (individual cells), differences in final digested starch and initial reaction rate were hypothesised to originate from differences in cell wall porosity/fragility.status: publishe